Moskowitz, who has an Overweight rating on the shares, and a $585 price target, writes that an iPhone with a 5-inch screen, and a “converged mobility and computing platform which we call iAnywhere” could offset slowing smartphone sales that threaten the iPhone franchise.

Moskowitz’s report on Apple comes in conjunction with a 20-page report from analyst Rod Hall, who covers Cisco Systems (CSCO) and other communications equipment stocks.

That report describes continuing smartphone slowdown, with shipments of devices globally slowing to 16% this year and 8% in 2015, following 41% unit growth in 2013. “We believe that the slowdown in growth will be led primarily by a slowdown in adoptions in China post completion of the main growth phase of adoption there.”

The authors see that as a problem for Apple given its dependence on the iPhone, a scenario they describe in a single chart — a “heat map” for the company’s revenue makeup (click for larger image):

Write Hall and Moskowitz “iPhone has become too big relative to other revenue streams, and growth rates are moderating; iPad has not stepped up to shoulder more of the revenue growth.”

Moreover, the “hit” from each new generation of iPhone is getting smaller and smaller, they note, again, with a slide comparing such debuts:

“Technology advancements are diminishing, not compelling users to refresh as often as in years past.”

Enter iAnywhere, which, as Moskowitz and Hall see it, “while not a new idea,” nevertheless, would be “a new category [...] a converged Mac OS – iOS operating system that allows an iPhone or iPad to dock into a specially configured display to run as a computer.”

The authors offer up their evidence for iAnywhere, citing patent filings:

Our global technology research team identifies a crescendo of developments pointing to Apple’s capabilities to build a converged mobility-computing platform, which we call iAnywhere. First, we think the company’s patent related to display technology (Integrated Monitor and Docking Station Patent 7,684,185) could allow for a specially configured display to run as a computer once an iPhone or iPad is docked. Second, we think Apple being the industry-first to move to 64-bit processors on mobility devices (iPhone 5S and newest iPad) provides the horsepower to run applications and drivers related to Mac OS (full-fledged computer operating system). Third, we think current ARM processors can support most PC-like computing tasks and with better power efficiency. Fourth, our global technology team’s research suggests Apple is developing a larger iPad with a keyboard, which we think could become the productivity user’s computing device when away from the docking station.

The companion report features a graphic of the relevant patents:

In addition, the authors offer their view of how Apple’s computing power in its next series of “A-series” custom microprocessors would give an iAnywhere device substantially more compute power:

We believe that Apple’s next A-Series chip will likely be roughly equivalent in raw computing power to 2013 MacBook Air laptops on a per core basis; Expect the chip to move to quad core from the two cores present in the current A7; We expect Apple to at least move to the 28nm process node and more likely the 20nm node at the same time that the die area of the chip increases substantially; We currently believe that the A8′s die will be around 30% larger than the A7.

(For more on the A-Series processors, see today’s piece from BlueFin Research Partners.)

Such a product family could lead to Apple having more room to scoop up all manner of computing, Moskowitz writes:

With iAnywhere, we think a converged mobility and computing platform could drive a multi-year replacement cycle as users look to consolidate devices while also establishing a “take anywhere” computing environment. Beyond Apple, we think the iAnywhere platform would have implications for other computing vendors, such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Microsoft. Traditional PC sales could lag over time if iAnywhere is successful. Plus, with iAnywhere’s converged operating system, we think Office would work with the platform, meaning the absence of Office for iPad becomes a moot point – i.e., Office would no longer be a limiting factor for iPad adoption by productivity users.

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There are 6 comments

FEBRUARY 12, 2014 5:00 P.M.

Anonymous wrote:

AMAZING STALLING

HOPEFULLY, MORE IN 2014 THAN JUST "AMAZING THINGS" OR " NEW CATEGORIES"

FEBRUARY 12, 2014 5:00 P.M.

Shiroto wrote:

The "heat map" is a very compelling graphic, but I would like to see it modified to reflect Apple's overall revenue growth. A compelling effect of the reported transition to "iAnywhere" would be to blur the distinctions between the devices themselves and which would leave the top line revenue changes as by far the most significant --i.e., if my iPhone is my iMac is my iPad. That in turn should lessen the number of devices sold but might well lead to a larger market share of the entire "gadget" market and could create a more compelling proposition for premium pricing. At the least, it is certainly a brave new world.

FEBRUARY 12, 2014 6:18 P.M.

Drake wrote:

Industry first? Do even a little bit of research. Completely false.

FEBRUARY 12, 2014 8:30 P.M.

@Techknow_Babble wrote:

Apple supporting docking and a single device, single profile solution. No. While they're basically already delivering a single-profile, they've consistently steered clear of the single device concept. The android platform has had dockable, convertible devices for quite awhile (e.g. Atrix, ASUS Transformer) with little impact or fanboy accretion. The prospects for Apple are big but they've already got iAnywhere. Basically this article is written by financial guys with no real tech understanding. Your MBA is near worthless.

FEBRUARY 12, 2014 9:18 P.M.

jd wrote:

IAnywhere?

wow, Apple may copy a feature Google made seemless years ago.

Wow, whats next an Amazing IPhone with a 5" screen?

FEBRUARY 13, 2014 1:14 P.M.

LibertyFlyer wrote:

The growth days for Apple are long gone folks. If you want to own a piece of Apple, then buy it as a value play. On a personal note, we own several Apple products, including an iPhone 4 and an iPad 2. That being said, I would not purchase another Apple product when given the other available options today. Whether Apple can be considered a value stock is questionable, but growth it is not. The charts are telling indeed!

About Tech Trader Daily

Tech Trader Daily is a blog on technology investing written by Barron’s veteran Tiernan Ray. The blog provides news, analysis and original reporting on events important to investors in software, hardware, the Internet, telecommunications and related fields. Comments and tips can be sent to: techtraderdaily@barrons.com.